"HOW GOOD IS THE QUALITY OF YOUR FOOD"

Research Shows Mass-Produced Foods are Weak on Nutrition and Taste

If time travel ever becomes a reality, and if you ever find yourself back in the 1950s, you've got to try the tomatoes. And while you're at it, try the strawberries, peaches, broccoli, and onions too. They'll be so delicious that you might not want to return to the 21st Century.

Taste won't be the only difference. A colleague recently sent me an article that makes this claim: You'd have to eat more than half a dozen 2009 peaches to equal the nutritional content of a single 1959 peach.

The article features a 2004 study in which United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers compared nutrient data published in 1950 with similar data published in 1999. The match-up included more than 40 garden crops, including broccoli, carrots, spinach, corn, tomatoes, and strawberries.

Results showed overall declines for several nutrient factors, including protein, calcium, iron, riboflavin and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). For instance, the representative ascorbic acid value per 100 grams of spinach in 1950 was 59. In 1999 that value dropped to 28.

The USDA team believes that changes in cultivated varieties are responsible for the sharp decrease in nutritional value, adding: "...there may be trade-offs between yield and nutrient content."

Trade-offs? That's a nice way of saying that varieties have been purposely cultivated to create extra hardy fruits and vegetables that withstand long-distance shipping with minimum damage or spoilage. And you can see the result in the average supermarket: beautiful unbruised fruits and vegetables...with bland flavours and dense textures.

Mineral infusion

The article about the USDA study appears in an online magazine called Natural Foods Merchandiser. And a couple of readers' comments about the article are worth noting.

A reader named Cyndi points out another reason why mass- produced garden foods are weak on nutrition and taste: Fertilizers increase water uptake, but not vegetable matter. She advises sticking with heirloom varieties of foods – that is, the same varieties found in gardens in 1950. Those varieties didn't ship well, but they were packed with nutrients and had rich, satisfying flavours.

Another reader, Joanna, participates in a wider strategy to promote nutrient-dense produce: soil remineralisation. She's involved with an organization called Remineralize the Earth (remineralize.org), which works with farmers, scientists, retailers and other groups to replenish farm soils with mineral nutrients.

Meanwhile, what steps can you take to ensure a nutrient-rich diet?

You can use heirloom seeds in mineral-rich soil to grow your own fruits and vegetables. Next best: If you're fortunate enough to have a farmers' market in your area, that's a likely place to find organic heirloom produce.

Of course, dietary supplements provide a nutrient insurance plan for millions of people who don't have ready access to nutritious foods. Beyond multivitamins there are a number of supplements designed to naturally boost your nutrient intake.
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